Whittenberg to speak Nov. 11th ceremony

First Sgt. Fletcher Whittenberg, the First Sergeant for First Army headquarters at the Rock Island Arsenal, will be the guest speaker at Geneseo's Veterans Day ceremony.

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Geneseo Republic - Geneseo, IL

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Posted Nov. 8, 2012 at 2:04 PM
Updated Nov 8, 2012 at 2:05 PM

Posted Nov. 8, 2012 at 2:04 PM
Updated Nov 8, 2012 at 2:05 PM

First Sgt. Fletcher Whittenberg, the First Sergeant for First Army headquarters at the Rock Island Arsenal, will be the guest speaker at Geneseo's Veterans Day ceremony.

The ceremony will start at 11 a.m. Nov. 11 at the Don Cherry VFW Post Hall on State Street. A firing squad, under the direction of Bob DeBoever, will present a salute.

"Taps" will be played by Gregg Neuleib with the echo played by John Bean. Master of ceremonies will be Virgil Johnson.

Pastor Lynn Bergren of First Lutheran Church will give the invocation and benediction.

A light lunch will be served following the ceremony. All are welcome to attend.

First Sgt. Whittenberg joined the U.S. Army in March 1990. During his career, Whittenberg has served as a rifleman, machine gunner, grenadier, team leader, squad leader, section leader, platoon sergeant and first sergeant.

Whittenberg has been deployed for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia and Iraq, has done two deployments for Operations Joint Guard and Joint Forge in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

He has received the Bronze Star Medal, meritorious Service Medal with two oak leafs, Army Commendation Medal with three oak leafs, Army Achievement Medal with 14 oak leafs, Good Conduct Medal 7th award, National Defense Service medal with bronze star, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Southwest Asia Campaign Medal with two bronze stars, Afghanistan campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medial, Korean Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Service Medal, CO Professional Development with Roman Numeral 3, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Ribbon with Roman Numeral 5, NATO Service Medal, Saudi Arabian Defense of Kuwait Medal, Defense of Kuwait Medal, Expert Infantry Badge, Combat Infantry Badge with one star and Ranger tab.

Whittenberg is a recipient of The Sergeant Audie Murphy Medal and The Order of Saint Maurice Centurion Medal.

He also is the junior deacon for Stewart Lodge No. 92 in Geneseo.

Whittenberg is married to the former Diane Cirigliano. The couple has four children: Landon, Stephanie, Makayla and Treay.